Category: Reviews

When I was heavily into amateur astronomy, one of the problems I often ran into was criticism that I too much equipment. At the peak of my hobby, I owned five telescopes, a dozen eyepieces, and a multitude of accessories weighing several hundred pounds. I was able to justify the purchases through the unique roles that each scope filled, such as the smaller scopes for traveling and the larger scopes for demonstrating astronomy to the public. As my interests have moved more heavily into chess, I have noticed that the same problem arises: owning a multitude of books and boards. I have noted that on several chess groups on Facebook where people often joke about the plethora of books and boards they own, so it is nice to know that I am not alone because the latest addition to my collection arrived late yesterday afternoon: an African padauk and ebony chess set from The Chess Store.

The Good: I would like to begin by saying that I am positively in love with this set. It is one of the most beautiful chess sets I have ever seen, which is probably why it caught my attention on the store’s website in the first place. I tried to contain my excitement after deciding on this combination of board and pieces, but it was like being bitten by the new car bug…I just had to have it! After waiting what seemed like forever (more on that later), the set arrived late Wednesday night and was immediately put to use by my wife and I. This particular set is not sold as a combo pack on The Chess Store’s website, so it was something I had to build in my shopping cart on my own. It is a combination of British Staunton African Padauk and Ebony pieces and a Bird’s-Eye Maple and Padauk board.

The striking colors of the African Padauk and the ebony is the first thing that jumps out about this set. The white pieces are a brilliant, deep red that are perfectly accented by the maple and padauk board. The solid ebony pieces are as dark and as smooth as one could expect from a high quality board. The details on the pieces are amazing. The top of the Rooks are depressed and the Knights are intricately detailed, which gives the board a significant amount of character and class. Although my wife and I chose to use the arms of couch to hold captured pieces, the deluxe maple board has margins on each side which are perfectly sized to fit captured pieces during play. The pieces are evenly weighted and were easy to move across the board. In fact, I found myself at times knocking pieces over because of how easily the pieces slide. This is great for playing speed chess or antagonizing a family member! :)

This combination set is a perfect gift for the professional in your life that loves playing chess or loves having beautiful, decorative items in their home. The combination set retails for $329 with free standard shipping or you can purchase the individual elements for $159 (pieces) and $169 (board).

The Bad: Of course, to be fair I also have to point out something that continues to disappoint me about this purchase. Since I discovered it years ago, I have had a love-hate relationship with The Chess Store because of their customer service. The chess sets they sell are some of the best in the world, but their customer service and shipping system is significantly flawed. I have, on occasion, sent questions to their customer service department and have never received a reply. Additionally, the shipping of this set was amazingly frustrating. The standard shipping took two days to process, and then an entire week to get to me! Faster shipping options were available, but the lowest available price was $70 for shipping, which was not worth paying to get the set only 3 days earlier. The Chess Store could benefit from finding a way to get its products out the door and to its customers more quickly and find a way to fix their customer service system to where its customers could actually receive responses to their questions or concerns.

Final Verdict: ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟

The nature of my day job requires that my wife and I keep many of our interests and hobbies as mobile as possible. When I was regularly involved in astronomy and astronomical research, it was always easier to fire up a digital planetarium on my computer than to set up a telescope. Chess is much different in that there are a variety of ways to play and study the game. The multitude of digital platforms available these days allow students and players to carry their chess sets and portable game notation (PGN) files almost anywhere. Personally, I enjoy having access to Deep Fritz and Houdini on my laptop, but I believe that none of those engines or user interfaces can match the feel of a real board.

Every book I have ever read about Bobby Fischer makes mention of his almost mythical pocket chess set. As my interest in chess has grown over the years, I have searched wherever possible to find something comparable to his pocket set. Recently I ordered a checkbook travel chess set from the United States Chess Federation. This fantastic little set has round magnetic pieces and is made of a soft, durable material. It is perfect for on-the-go chess in a rugged setting. At $4.99, the price is unbeatable.

However, I believe that I have finally discovered the Rolls-Royce of pocket chess sets. I cannot remember the location of the article I was reading, but I recently came across a chess article that mentioned a pocket chess set called Chessmate. After a quick web search, I came across the Chessmate website and discovered the Chessmate is actually one series of products made by game designer David Weinstock. Chessmate was founded in 1996 and the Chessmate Pocket Chess Set ($39.99) is its flagship product. I did not want to spend too much money on a pocket set, but I decided that I wanted something more than the basic Chessmate set. I selected the Chessmate Ultima primarily because the product description emphasized that the pieces were already set up and ready to go.

My Chessmate Ultima arrived this morning via USPS Signature Confirmation mail, which created a small amount of difficulty given the need to be home to sign for the package. After working with my mail carrier, I was able to get my package and have been playing with the set all day. The first thing that struck me about the Ultima was its high quality construction and unique packaging. It came incredibly well packaged with several hand-written “Thank Yous” from Mr. Weinstock. The construction of the set itself is first rate. It has a beautiful, professional-grade imitation Ostrich exterior and a powerful magnetic lock that keeps it secured when not in use. According to Mr. Weinstock, imitation Ostrich and imitation leather materials work best for folding chess sets in the long term because they do not need to be broken in before lying flat.

The Chessmate logo is on a small black plate on the interior of the set and does not detract from the set’s overall look and feel. The board itself opens up completely flat the first time it is opened and stays that way. I have been using it throughout the day to Capablanca’s game from the first part of The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played and some games from New In Chess. There is almost no way to describe the incredible way that the magnetic pieces of the Chessmate Ultima move across the board. They are amazingly smooth, which makes the board perfect for moving back and forth between my Kindle Paperwhite and my Chessmate. My wife usually gives me a hard time about how many chess sets we have in the house, but even she was impressed with the quality and appearance of the Chessmate. It has not left my hands very much for most of the day and even as I write this entry, it sits open by my side.

The Chessmate Ultima retails for $59.99 at the Chessmate website and takes about a week to ship from the time it is ordered. I contacted Mr. Weinstock to ask about the shipping time and he responded personally to tell me that this is because each Chessmate is hand-made after the order is placed. Once my Chessmate order shipped, it arrived at my home in Ohio in just two days! The Chessmate Ultima Pocket Chess Set is a wonderful tool for the beginning chess enthusiast or perhaps even the most seasoned Grandmaster wanting a quick way to whip out a game board. Check out the official Chessmate website for details.